


Ready To Comply

by letsgolesbiansletsgoooo



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky is gay, Don't Judge, F/M, Flashbacks, I'm new, M/M, Nick Fury Needs A Hug, Quote: Don't do anything stupid until I get back, Quote: I understood that reference, Quote: I'm with you 'til the end of the line, Steve is bi, alaina if you're reading this i'm sorry for destroying your faith in me, clint and natasha but natasha's still dead sorry guys, eh whatever, i should probably stop adding tags, i'm gonna need to add more tags eventually, marvel shipping, peggy gets rejected, possible smut?? we'll see if i get there, scott lang is there for some reason, this is my first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:20:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23266879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letsgolesbiansletsgoooo/pseuds/letsgolesbiansletsgoooo
Summary: 2023 post-Endgame. Steve never stayed with Peggy. Bucky loses his memory. Nick fury is stressed. They're keeping a secret from Bucky.yeah so i decided this was shit and abandoned it
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers
Comments: 7
Kudos: 18





	1. Longing

Bucky Barnes awoke in a large, bright room.

Cold morning air gave him goosebumps as it wafted in through the window.

Car horns honked on the street four floors below. 

Bucky was lying on his side in a soft, warm bed, the sheets on top of him providing a partial  
shield from the outside air.

And someone was lying next to him.

Bucky sat up with a jolt, and nearly fell out of the bed as he jumped onto the cold, hardwood floors.

The man lying on the other side of the bed was blond and shirtless, with toned muscles that almost looked unreal. Bucky leaned over to get a better look at the man’s face- abruptly, he pulled back with confusion. 

“Steve..?” Bucky whispered, recognizing his friend. Steve… I thought… but… Bucky’s thoughts were interrupted by sudden movement from Steve. He rolled over onto his back, facing Bucky.

“Oh, hey, Buck. Man, did we sleep in…” Steve said as he glanced up at the clock on the far wall.

He began to pull the covers off him, and slide out of the bed, but then he looked closer at Bucky. And saw something he desperately wished wasn’t there. 

Bucky’s face, confused, his metal arm hanging limp at his side, his right hand running through his shoulder length hair. Steve knew that face. 

“God, Buck, what’s the last thing you remember?”

The question caught Bucky by surprise. 

He racked his brain, trying to pinpoint a time.. A place… 

Snow. Falling. Pain. His arm… he couldn’t move his arm… A book… Bucky gasped.  
“Y- You fell- no- I fell and-” Bucky doubled over in pain. Steve rushed to his side. 

“It’s alright, Buck, it's gonna be alright.” Steve grabbed his phone from the bedside table and began to call someone. 

Bucky stared in confusion at the small box-shaped object in Steve’s hand. “W-what is that?” Steve looked pitifully at Bucky. 

“Buck, what year is it? What's the last year you remember?”

“1945. I think it was winter. In… Germany?” 

“Yes. And…”

“I fell off a train. And then my arm…” Bucky glances down at his prosthetic arm. 

“HYDRA got you, Buck.” 

“They- they made me stronger- my arm-” Bucky collapsed onto the bed. 

“Bucky, stay here. I'm calling Fury.”

“Who?” 

Steve shook his head, held his phone up to his ear and walked out. 

So many questions swirled in Bucky’s head. But one was becoming prominent. Why did I just wake up next to Steve?

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve stepped into the hallway outside their apartment. Their apartment. His and Bucky’s. His hands shook as he scrolled through his “Contacts” list on his phone and landed on “Fury, Nick.”

He clicked on the number. 

The phone rang once… 

Brring!

Twice…

Brring!

A third time…  
Brring!

A fourth, and then-

Brri- “Hello?”

Steve hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath. “Yes, hello, Nick? It’s Rogers, Steve Rogers.”

Fury’s voice answered. “Of course, Captain! Now, I must ask…”

“Well, actually, Nick, I have something to tell y-”

Fury cut him off. “What were Natasha Romanov’s last words?”

Steve froze. “I-I’m sorry, what?”

“You heard me.”

“I don’t- I don’t know, sir.” 

Fury chuckled. He knew Steve’s tendency to revert to formality when he was unsure.

“Of course you don’t know, Captain. You weren’t there.”

Steve cringed. Of course, he thought. A security question. 

“Congratulations. You passed the ‘Are-You-Really-Who-You-Say-You-Are’ Nick Fury Patented Test!”

“Quite a name, sir.”

“Indeed. Now, what is it you need to tell me? You figured out how to use your Apple TV? You finally ordered something off Amazon?” Fury laughed at his own joke.

“No, sir. It’s about Bucky.”

Fury’s laughter faded. “Oh, fuck.”


	2. Rusted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fury gets angry, sam appears, nobody has a girlfriend

An hour ago, James Buchanan Barnes had woken up in Brooklyn with no memory of anything after 1945. 

Now, he was sitting on a slightly uncomfortable leather couch in the Avengers Headquarters. Apparently, the Avengers were an elite group of “superheroes” with whom Bucky was a part of. 

Apparently, Bucky had helped fight the war against someone named Thanos.

Apparently, Thanos was an alien.

And Bucky was really confused. 

Steve Rogers sat next to Bucky, with a reassuring hand on his arm. Nick Fury -who Steve seemed to know- was saying something to Bucky about “HYDRA treatments” and “psychological manipulation.” 

So far, Bucky knew this: The year was 2023. Bucky had been kept captive by HYDRA and used as one of their Super Soldiers. He still didn’t know what that meant.

Fury’s voice broke his thoughts. “...and really, Sergeant Barnes, if you aren’t listening to me, then so help me God, I will find a way to erase your memory again and sell you to the circus.”

Bucky couldn’t tell if he was kidding. 

Steve spoke up. “Fury, this isn’t… I really need you to take this seriously.”

“Oh, now you’re giving me the orders!” Fury chuckled, but hidden behind the sarcasm was a hint of bitterness. For some reason, Bucky knew that something was wrong.

“Fury. Can we talk please? In private?” Steve’s fists clenched and unclenched as he tried to contain himself.

Bucky was then left alone with his thoughts.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I don’t think I can keep this from him much longer.”

“Captain, we don’t know how he will react! If he doesn’t take it well, what are we supposed to do with him? Knock him out? Use the word?”

“God, Fury, no. So much has happened since last time… there's so much more he needs to know…”

Fury cleared his throat. “Last time, he gradually got his memories back. It should happen this time too.”

“Ok, but we don’t know that. Maybe I’ll have to just, tell him everything-”

“Rogers! Listen to me! I know this hurts, I know what it's like to lose someone you love-”

“He isn’t lost, Fury, he’s just-”

Steve paused. 

“We’re not telling him that.” Steve said this through gritted teeth, as if he didn’t want to say it. “I’m not going to force that on him.”

Fury nodded. “I know, Captain. He needs to find out for himself. Maybe… maybe this version of him doesn’t feel the same.”

“Yeah.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the record, Bucky hated his name. Seriously, “Buchanan”? Really, parents? What the hell? And, on top of a shitty middle name, his nickname was Bucky. 

Yeah, he hated it. 

But, for some reason, when Steve and Fury reappeared and Steve said “Bucky, there’s some stuff you need to know,” it didn’t bother him. 

Huh.

Steve sat down next to Bucky on the couch, his knee bouncing up and down with nerves. “So, basically, you lost your memory.” Yeah. Obviously. “But the thing is… it’s happened before.”

Bucky froze. “What?”

“In 2016, when you were in Wakanda… you woke up one morning and didn’t remember a thing. You got so angry that Shuri had to put you under…”

“...Wakanda? Is that a… hospital?”

Steve glanced at Fury, who gave him a look that said Not yet.

“You know, Bucky, last time this happened, your memories just… came back. We think.. Maybe this time it’ll happen again.”

Bucky raised his eyebrows. “Seriously, Steve, you think they’ll just… come back? How long is that gonna take?”

“Well, last time you remembered everything after a month…” Steve looked at Bucky. “But you have more memories this time. It’s been seven years…”

Fury shook his head. “Two years. The blip.” 

Bucky added another thing to his mental list of things he did not know.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve and Bucky were standing in a crowded subway, two stops away from Steve’s apartment. It was late, almost eleven, and Steve hadn't spoken to Bucky since they left HQ. He was typing something into his phone, communicating with someone. 

Bucky wished he would say something. He was never one for silences, always the one to fill them with a smart remark or joke. The thing was, he realized now, he had nothing to say. There was nothing to talk to Steve about, nothing relevant in the least. 

The subway grinded to a halt, and Steve motioned Bucky towards the door. “I know you don’t remember the way home… so just follow me, ok?” Bucky nodded. “I told Sam to come over, he’s bringing sushi.” Steve paused and glanced over at Bucky. “It’s- it was your favorite.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

Bucky followed Steve into a relatively new apartment building, and up to the fourth floor. They stopped at apartment 472. Steve pulled a key out of his jacket and unlocked the door.

As Bucky stepped into the foyer, he tried to make himself remember, tried to tell himself he knew where he was. 

It didn’t work.

Steve saw how uncomfortable Bucky was. “Look, I know you don’t really know where we are, but believe me, you love this place. You picked it out, actually. I wanted one higher up...” He walked over to a small window in the kitchen and looked out onto the street. “I cut you some slack since you’re afraid of heights.”

Bucky laughed. “Are you deliberately trying to tell me all these things about myself?”

“Maybe.”

“You are! Also, I know I’m afraid of heights.”

“Oh, right. ‘45.”

“Yeah.” 

The laughter disappeared as soon as it had come.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam Wilson was sitting at their kitchen table, eating sushi. Bucky was sitting across from him, also eating sushi. Steve was devouring a grilled cheese sandwich.

“Really, Steve? Grilled cheese?” Sam shook his head in disbelief.

“I don’t like sushi! I tried it once, years ago, and it made me sick!”

“So you make grilled cheese?”

“Yes!” Steve began to tease. “I’m sorry if you have an issue with my food preferences, but I like what I like!”

Sam cleared his throat. “Now where have I heard that before…” Steve blushed. “Oh, right, that one time when Clint blew the broom closet he caught y-”

“Yeah, Sam, not right now.” Steve’s face had gone from embarrassed to angry in a second. “Not yet.”

The Falcon leaned back in his chair. “Right, right. Not yet.”

“Ahem.” Bucky interjected. “This sushi? It’s great.”

Steve sighed. “Of course it is, Buck.”  
“How do you not like this?”

Sam threw his hands up in agreement. “That’s what I said! It’s heavenly!” 

“Oh my God, I actually feel like I know you-” Bucky started, then stopped. His vision started to spot, his leg went numb. Flashes of memories began to appear.

He saw someone flying, with wings. Metal wings. 

The scene changed. Bucky was in a car, the backseat, Sam was sitting in front of him. Steve was standing outside the car, kissing a blond woman...

Bucky laughed so hard he broke from his thoughts. 

“Who’s the girl, Steve?”

Steve’s face lit up. “You remembered!” 

Sam laughed. “It’s Sharon, right? Blond?”

Bucky nodded. “Yeah. What’s up with that, Steve?”

“Nothing’s up with that. She and I? No. Never happened.”

“You sure? ‘Cause my memory’s tellin’ me otherwise.” Bucky wasn’t stopping until he heard the whole story.

Sam shook his head. “Nah. Steve’s telling the truth. They kissed that one time, but that was it.”

“Damn. Speaking of girls, Steve, you got a girlfriend I don’t remember?”

Steve’s eye met Sam’s for a split second, almost too quick for Bucky to notice. But he did. “Nope. No girl.”

Bucky felt the tension rise in the room. “Of course you don’t, what girl would date you?”

Steve smiled, just a little. “Honestly? I don’t know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank u for reading! i tried to make it longer but im not sure if it worked  
> stay healthy everybody!


	3. Seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so everybody's drunk in this

August 1935, Brooklyn.

“C’mon, Steve, just one more drink..” Bucky slurred, stumbling down the sidewalk. “I’m already drink- drunk- one more won’t hurt me!” 

Steve chuckled. “No, Bucky, we need to get you home. You’re going to have the worst hangover in the morning… the quicker we get you home and in bed the better.” He tried to get his arm around his friend and help him walk, but Bucky was too tall. He ended up grabbing Bucky’s wrist, and dragged him toward down the street.

“You- haha- you can’t even help me walk, Steve. God, you’re so fucking small.” Steve cringed and looked away. “Oh, wait, no I didn’t mean that, I-” 

“It’s fine, Buck. You’re drunk. You say things you don’t mean when you’re drunk.”

“Haha, yeah I do.”

“Alright, you’re going home.” Steve continued to drag a protesting Barnes down the street, with passerby making a wide berth around the two. Street lights flickered around them as Bucky stumbled along, Steve’s hand latched onto his wrist in an effort to keep him from fighting. Across the street, two girls watched them stumble down the sidewalk. 

Bucky looked up, saw them watching, and grinned. “Hey, Steve, how’s that for ya? Wanna go see if they’d like a drink?” 

Steve knew how this would go. Bucky would cross the street, tripping over himself. He’d introduce himself- as James, not Bucky- and then Steve. Bucky always ended up with an arm around both girls, Steve following along from behind. 

Not this time. 

“Nah, we gotta get home. Those girls don’t deserve to have to put up with you.”

“Haha.” Bucky paused. “But, really, am I that bad? I think I’m pretty great..”

Steve laughed, but looked away. “Let’s just say, if I were a girl, you would not be my first choice.”

For some reason, Bucky felt a tug in his chest. Maybe it was the drinks, but Bucky had been drunk before. This was… this was different.

A tug on his arm brought Bucky out of his thoughts.

“We’re here.” Steve guestered upward, at Bucky’s apartment building.

Bucky pushed Steve’s arm off him. “Thanks, man, I’m just gonna-” He stumbled as he pushed open the door to the lobby. 

Steve shook his head. “Am I actually gonna have to carry you up the stairs?’

Bucky propped himself up on the door frame and nodded vigorously. “Yes, please carry me up the stairs. Because you can definitely do that.”

“C’mon, I’ll walk behind you and make sure you don’t fall.”

“HAHA. What if I fell on you?”

“I would probably end up in the hospital.”

Bucky giggled, not unlike the girls from across the street. He pushed open the door to the stairwell, and began to stumble up the stairs. Steve cautiously followed from a distance, his body stiff in anticipation of having to catch his friend.

By the time they reached his floor, Bucky had fallen twice.

“I- I don’t think I have my key…” Bucky was digging through his jean and jacket pockets, looking for his apartment key. “I must’ve lost it again… somebody stole it, maybe…” He mumbled.

Steve pulled a key out of his pocket. “I’ve got one, Buck, it’s alright.” He stepped up to the door and unlocked it. 

Bucky stood, staring at Steve. “You keep a key… to my apartment? That’s creepy, man. How do I know you haven’t been stealing my shit?”

“There’s nothing of value to steal from here, first of all, but really? I keep this key for nights like this.” Steve pushed open the door and walked into the cramped kitchen. “When you decided to go out and get drunk, all the while dragging me with you. If I didn’t have a key, you’d have to sleep on your welcome mat. Again.”

“I don’t like sleeping on my welcome mat.” 

Steve sighed. “I know. That’s why I’ve got the key.”

Bucky stumbled over to his old, worn-out couch and flopped down on it. In the kitchen, Steve grabbed a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with cold water. “Hey, can you drink this for me?” He handed the glass to Bucky, then sat down on the couch next to him.

“You know-” Bucky said between sips. “I don’t- know what- I’d do- without you-”

Steve laughed. “You’d probably be dead.” 

“No, I mean-” He finished the glass. “As my friend. You- you always know exactly what to do, you’ve always got the answers to everything.” 

“Yeah, I wish I did.”

“No, no, you do. Anything could happen, and you’d know what to do.”

“Really? Alright, give me something. A scenario. I’ll show you I don’t know a thing.”

“What if I were standing on the wings of an airplane, in the air, and eating a snake?”

Steve raised his eyebrows. “Wow. You really are drunk.”

“Ok, yeah, but what would you do?”

“Uh… I’d probably grab a parachute, attach you to it, and then make sure the snake was dead… if the snake was dead I think you could eat it and be ok.”

“Woah. That’s… that would work. See, I told you!” Bucky playfully hit Steve on his arm, causing him to cringe.

“Yeah, alright, but that was.. too weird to count. Give me another one.”

“Too weird? Seriously? God, Steve, just let me be right for once.”

“Nope. I’m waiting for another one.”

“Ugh, fine.” Bucky paused, and turned towards Steve. “What if…” He trailed off. Steve became aware of Bucky watching him closely. “What if I did this?”

And then, much to Steve’s surprise… 

Bucky leaned in and kissed him.

They must’ve kissed for days before Steve pushed Bucky off of him.

“What- what the hell!” Steve panted, gasping for air. “You can’t just- that’s not-”

“Oh, c’mon, it’s not like you hated it…” Bucky sat back on the couch, watching Steve with a strange look on his face.

“No- I mean- why would you-” Steve stood up and walked towards the door. “This never happened.”

Bucky’s heart pounded inside his chest as Steve slammed the door on his way out.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 2018, Avengers Headquarters.

“Hey, Steve! You came!” Bucky sat up on his bed to greet the tall, blond man who had just walked through the door. 

“Wouldn’t miss it. One-hundred-and-one’s a pretty big day. And I thought I was old…” Steve set down a plastic Walmart bag on Bucky’s kitchen counter. “I brought you cake.”

“Cake! I love cake!” Bucky grabbed a sweatshirt and pulled it on. “You know, I haven’t had cake since… my birthday, 1944!!”

Steve nodded. “Yeah, I know.” He pulled a small, blue-frosted cake out of the bag. “I also brought this…” He pulled out a bottle of tequila. 

Bucky smiled. “Oh. Oh, this is gonna be fun.”

Three hours later, they were both drunk as hell, slurring over their words and stumbling over their feet when they’d get up to use the restroom. Neither of them really knew what time it was, but they knew they’d have to report to Fury in the morning. 

“We are so, so dead, Steve.” Bucky stood up, and promptly fell back onto his couch. “Yup. We’re dead.”

“Not yet, we aren’t. We’ll be fine by morning- remember? We’re like, super strong, and shit.” Steve grabbed a plastic fork off the living-room table and chucked it at the wall. It hit the wall and stuck there. “Huh. Didn’t think that would work.” 

Bucky looked up at the ceiling. “Daaamn, now I’m gonna have holes in my wall..” 

“Yeah, but why’re you lookin’ at the ceiling?” 

“Shit, I dunno.”

“Oh. Nice.” Steve stood up and grabbed the empty bottle of tequila. “Woah.” 

“Haha, you’re dizzy?” Bucky leaned forward and pulled himself off the couch. “Me too-” He fell sideways, into Steve, who caught him. “Hey, you can catch me now! Remember that time- before all this shit- I was drunk, and I fell on top of you on the stairs? And- oh yeah, I lost my key- and then I-”

Steve froze, and promptly dropped Bucky. 

“I left you at your apartment and walked home.” Steve walked over to the kitchen, avoiding Bucky’s eyes. 

“Yeah, but… we never talked about that, did we?” 

“What’s there to talk about? You were drunk, and stupid, and nothing happened.”

Bucky laughed. “I mean… it’s not like you pulled away…” He slowly stood, steadying himself before walking forward. Steve had begun to clean up the kitchen. “Even drunk, you’re responsible.” Bucky remarked. 

Steve nodded, but it was a short and fast up-down motion, a stiff ‘I don’t want to talk about this.’

Bucky persisted. “Did we really never talk about that?” He said softly, facing him from across the kitchen island. Steve didn’t look up. “Do you… want to talk about it?” Bucky walked around the counter somewhat awkwardly and put a hand on Steve’s shoulder. 

Steve pushed Bucky’s hand away. “Like I said, there’s nothing to talk about.”

And then, for the second time in a century, Bucky leaned in and kissed Steve.

Bucky’s metal arm gave him a significant advantage over Steve, pushing him up against the counter. Steve’s hand hung in the air for a hesitant second before reaching up to grab Bucky’s shoulder-length hair. “We shouldn’t-” Steve gasped, before Bucky pushed him up into a sitting position on the island. 

Bucky opened his eyes to see Steve staring back at him. He smiled. “We definitely should.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank u! happy corona vacation


	4. Daybreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More people show up, Bucky gets triggered

2023, Brooklyn. 1 day since James Barnes lost his memory.

Bucky’s head pounded as he opened his eyes. He was covered in sweat, dripping down his forehead and collecting in puddles on his face. The couch he’d been sleeping on looked as if someone had taken a battle axe to it. Feathers and stuffing were scattered all over, and the throw pillows had been ripped to shreds. _What the hell happened_ , he thought. _Why the hell did I dream about The Thing That Never Happened? AND WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT OTHER THING??_ He felt as if someone had put too much information in his brain at once.

“Quite a number you did on that couch, huh?” Bucky whipped around to see Steve leaning against the kitchen counter, holding a steaming cup of coffee.

“Uh- yeah- I’m sorry- I’ll buy you a new one.” As soon as he said that, he wondered where he was gonna get the money. Did he have a bank account? Did being a- what's it called- an Avenger pay anything? WAS HE BROKE?

Steve laughed. “No need. It’s our couch, remember?”

Bucky did not remember.

“Oh, yeah. Just…” He made a motion with his hands like something was moving away from his head. “Slipped my mind.”

“Anyways, you slept through a pretty big storm last night. I heard on the news this morning a couple trees came down in Central Park.”

“Wow.”

“You ok? It seems like you might’ve… had a bad dream.”

“I’m fine.”

Bucky was not fine.

“...Sure, Buck. You’re fine.” Steve looked at him as if he were watching a time bomb, waiting for him to explode. “You want some coffee?”

“Do I like coffee?” Bucky felt like this might be important.

“Yeah, you do. Normally iced… but I don’t think we should go to Starbucks just yet.”

Aaaaaaand… another thing to add to Bucky’s Official List of Things He Did Not Know.

“Starbucks?”

“A coffee place. There’s one down the street.” Steve’s tone said there was more to it, but he didn’t elaborate.

As Bucky slowly walked into the kitchen, Steve poured coffee into a mug that said “I ❤️ an Avenger.”

Bucky raised his eyebrows. “Who’s mug is that? I thought you said there’s no girl…”

“Uh.” Steve turned the mug around to look at it. “Oh! It was a gift. For me. From… a fan.”

“Sure, a fan.” Bucky took the mug from Steve and hesitantly brought it to his lips. The coffee didn’t taste bad, exactly, but it wasn’t the best thing he’d ever had. _What have I had?_ Bucky thought, as Steve stepped closer to him.

Being near Steve made him remember the dream he’d had last night. “Hey, I think I remembered a few things. I had a dream… it seemed pretty real.”

Steve’s face lit up. “You did?! Really??! Last time, when this happened, your memories came back in dreams. I was hoping they would this time too…” He paused, then his face lit up all over again. “What did you remember?!”

“Uh…” Bucky realized he wasn’t sure what to tell Steve. “Um, I remember being at the Avengers Headquarters, and living there… and I think it was my birthday.”

Steve paled. “Your birthday? What happened?”

“...We got drunk, and then… you went back to your apartment.” Bucky couldn’t tell him the other thing he saw. He shifted uncomfortably at the thought of it.

“That’s it?” Steve’s expression changed from hope to disappointment. “I thought maybe you’d remember more.” He turned away from Bucky, and took a sip of his coffee. “Last time, when they came back in dreams, you saw the most important things first. There’s a memory… I know you have…” Steve shook his head. “Maybe it wasn’t as important as I thought.”

Bucky tried to look hopeful. “It’ll come back. Anyways, it could be different this time. This HYDRA-magic-serum-experiment-shit is pretty unpredictable, right?”

“Yeah. Unpredictable.” Steve pushed past Bucky and out of the kitchen.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An hour later, Steve was nowhere to be found. Bucky'd realized how terrible he smelled, and had taken a quick shower. Upon getting out and finding some clothes that he thought were his (he couldn’t be sure) he’d gone out into the kitchen to talk to Steve- and he wasn’t there. Bucky walked around the apartment, looking for a note, a message- anything that could help him realize where Steve went. After ten minutes, Bucky started to panic. He realized, as he sat down on the destroyed couch, that he had no idea what to do. He had no way to contact Steve, no way to know where he was- what if he’d gotten hurt?

Bucky’s heartbeat quickened when he heard a knock on the door. He clumsily pulled himself up off the couch and ran through the kitchen. “Steve? Steve, God, where’ve you been I was worried-” He pulled open the door to find three people who were certainly not Steve. The woman with red hair smiled at Bucky, her freckled face lighting up at the sight of him.

“Oh! James, hello! I thought maybe Steve would be here…” She peeked around Bucky’s shoulder. “Is he? Here? He didn’t leave you here by yourself, did he?”

The man standing behind the red-head spoke up. “No, of course he didn’t, Pepper, Steve’s not a total idiot-”

Bucky spoke up. “Actually, I don’t know where he is. Um, but before you come in… who are you?” He blushed as he said this, embarrassed for not knowing these people who clearly knew him.

The red-head smiled gently. “Of course, you wouldn’t remember. Nick told us about your condition… that’s why we came by. I’m Pepper Potts, and-” She gestured to the man beside her, “This is Happy Hogan.” 

_Happy’s almost a worse name than mine_ , Bucky thought.

“And _this_ is my daughter, Morgan.” A small girl, around six, stepped out from behind her mother.

“Hi Bucky. Do you remember me?” The girl was shy, not quite meeting Bucky’s eyes.

He kneeled down next to her, their faces at the same level. “No, Morgan, I don’t think I do.” Her face fell as he said this, and Bucky immediately felt terrible for disappointing her. “I will, though. It might be a while, but I’ll remember you.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So, he left you. Just- up and gone?” Happy was leaning forward in an armchair, tapping furiously on his- what did Steve call it? Oh, right- his phone.

Bucky nodded and shifted uncomfortably. “I got out of the shower, and he was gone. I checked the entire apartment- no note, nothing that could tell me where he went.”

“Did you check the O.F.F.I.C.E.?” Pepper was sitting on a bar stool, closely watching her daughter buckle and unbuckle her shoes.

Happy slapped a hand to his forehead. “Of course, the O.F.F.I.C.E.” He stood up and walked towards the utility closet. “And, Bucky, you wouldn’t have known about it so there’d have been no way for you to- Oh my God, I’m so dumb, thank you Pepper- I should fire myself, God I’m an idiot-” Happy held out his wrist, pointing his watch towards a spot on the wall.

Bucky was confused as ever. “What’s the O.F.F.I.C.E? That’s a utility closet.”

Pepper put her hand on Bucky’s arm. “O.F.F.I.C.E. stands for Over-Functional Fighting Intelligence Center Eagle.”

“That’s… quite the acronym.”

“Yes, it is. My husband came up with it- he designed the tech for them, too. And, anyways, that’s not even where your O.F.F.I.C.E. is, Happy’s thinking of Clint’s apartment.”

“Uh, if you don’t mind me asking… Do I know your husband?” Bucky thought Morgan resembled the confused man standing by the utility closet, and wondered if he could be the “tech designer” Pepper spoke of.

She smiled. “No, you wouldn’t remember him. You may have met his father, Howard… amazing man, really. Normally you would know this but- he was behind Steve’s transformation. The serum injections? His idea. HYDRA stole the serum, the tech… that’s how you came to be.” Pepper paused, pondering possible phrases. “My husband’s name was Tony Stark. Him and Steve didn’t always get along, but after the First Snap-”

Bucky didn’t hear her finish the sentence. As soon as she said that man’s name… Bucky’s head began to hurt- his heart rate quickened-

_The man in the mech suit held out his hand, lasers charging up, while Bucky fell in and out of consciousness. He saw Steve, on the ground, struggling to get up. Iron Man was preparing to shoot- Bucky grabbed his ankle, pulling him down and immediately getting knocked aside. He blacked out again- Steve was on the ground again- now it was Iron Man being slammed into the concrete- Steve grabbed Bucky around the shoulder, hoisting him up- Bucky heard the shield fall to the ground._

_The scene changed, and Bucky was standing in the middle of a huge battle, screaming all around him and creatures he’d never seen before attacking people he thought- maybe- he knew._

_He saw Steve holding- Thor’s hammer?? The shield was broken- only half of it was still intact. Iron Man- Tony Stark- was blasting aliens, along with Pepper and dozens of other Avengers he recognized. Bucky aimed his gun and fired, shooting anything and everything that wanted to kill him. And, suddenly, as soon as it had started- the battle stopped. Aliens all around him began to turn to dust- disappearing before his very eyes- and then he saw Stark fall to his knees. He watched as the Spider kid swung down next to Stark, hugging him and then being pushed away by Pepper, who said something to her husband- then her face fell- and Bucky realized what had happened._

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“James? James, are you alright?” Pepper was standing over him, tapping furiously into the watch on his wrist- which he thought had been broken. Happy was talking to someone on his phone, and Morgan looked like she’d been crying.

Bucky sat up slowly (he realized he’d been lying on the destroyed couch) and cleared his throat. “Wh- what happened…” He remembered talking to Pepper, and then blacking out- and then he remembered-

“You collapsed, Happy caught you just before you hit the floor. Did something I say trigger a memory? We were hoping this might happen…” Pepper glanced at Happy, who nodded slightly.

Bucky tried to recall what he saw. “Yeah, I think I remembered something- Stark was- your husband- when you said his name, I think I remembered…”

A loud bang from the hallway startled them.

Steve burst in, the door nearly flying off its hinges as he threw it open. “What the hell happened?!” He shrieked, and threw his jacket on the floor as he rushed over to Bucky’s side. “Did you black out again? Are you ok?” Steve glanced behind him, saw Morgan, and smiled. “Oh, hey squirt.” She grinned, and Steve- satisfied in making the little girl happy- turned back to Bucky. “What happened?”

Pepper spoke up. “Something I said triggered his memories. He was out for a good twenty minutes… I got his watch to turn on and was able to track his vitals. Happy called you, then Fury, and he said to just wait for James to wake up, so we did.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner, I was-”

“Yeah, where the hell were you? I couldn’t find you, I thought maybe you were hurt- you could’ve at least left a note, or something.” Bucky had regained some of his strength, and was thoroughly annoyed with his friend.

Steve looked at Bucky, puzzled. “What do you mean? I did tell you where I was going- I sent a message to your- oh shit.” He slapped his palm to his forehead. “Did I ever tell you how to work your watch?”

“No, I thought it was broken, until Pepper here got it to work…” Bucky tapped on the watch on his wrist, but nothing happened.

“It’s voice-activated. Say ‘White Wolf’ into it.”

Bucky looked at Steve hesitantly, but lifted the watch to his mouth and spoke. “Uh, ‘White Wolf?’” The watch immediately flickered to life, saying in a female robotic voice: _“Hello, James Barnes. You have one message from: Steve Rogers. Would you like to hear it?”_

Bucky paused. “Um, yes?” _“Ok, Steve Rogers says: ‘I’m going out for a run. Don’t leave the apartment- I don’t need you getting lost. There’s some food in the fridge, it’s in the blue Tupperware, I think. I’ll be back in a couple hours.’”_

“I’m sorry Buck, I forgot you didn’t know how to use it. Next time I’ll just write a note.” Steve sat down next to Bucky.

“Ok, great and all, but that’s super irresponsible, Steve.” Happy crossed his arms and tried to look intimidating. “You can’t just leave him alone. He’s not all there right now- no offense, James- and leaving him by himself is _dangerous_. If the three of us hadn’t showed up,” Happy gestured to himself, Pepper, and Morgan, “Who knows what might’ve happened. I thought you might’ve been in your O.F.F.I.C.E., but for some reason I couldn’t get it to open.”

Pepper chuckled to herself and shared a knowing glance with Bucky.

“I don’t really use my O.F.F.I.C.E. that much. Work hasn’t really been busy.” Steve shifted uncomfortably. “After I returned the stones, we- I- kind of…kept my distance from some of the other Avengers. You know that, Happy…”

Happy looked back and forth from Bucky to Steve, Steve to Bucky. “So…. oh. Ok. Yeah, I know, Steve. But… maybe you should check it every once in a while? We miss you on base… some of the new kids would get a kick out of seeing Captain America. And, some of the older kids as well…” Pepper nodded, agreeing with Happy.

“Yeah, well… maybe Bucky and I will head back up there soon. It might help trigger his memories…” Steve smiled at Bucky, who dipped his head in a slight nod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey y'all! I actually think this chapter was longer than normal, so, that's cool! as always, comments/kudos appreciated!
> 
> also, I've been meaning to ask: does anyone else use google docs to write their works in? I do and every time I copy and paste a chapter into the "chapter text" box when I post, it deletes all my italics and paragraphs (everything turns to normal text and smashes together). does anyone know why?? it's driving me nuts and I can't figure it out

**Author's Note:**

> this is pure unadulterated TRASH  
> i'm so sorry  
> find me on tumblr @octopifeelsandcheesecakethings  
> yeah i like octopi
> 
> yeah idk when its gonna be updated I actually have a lot of time on my hands but I spend most of it reading fic instead of writing


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